IN HOC SIGNO VINCES

A saleswoman in a fashion boutique in Berlin was viciously assaulted by a niqab-wearing woman who objected to lingerie being displayed in the same window as Islamic headscarves.

The incident occurred in the Berlin district of Neukölln, known for its high percentage of migrant residents. The niqab-wearing woman raised her objections, but after her demands to remove the lingerie were denied, she attacked the shopkeeper, Die Weltreports.

The victim, a 40-year-old woman from an Arabic immigrant background, said she saw a tattoo on the neck of her attacker and blonde hair under the niqab. Police say the woman had entered the shop once before and insulted the saleswoman in both German and Turkish before being told to leave.

Authorities say they are considering the attack to be religiously motivated but have so far been unable to identify the woman involved as she fled the scene before police were able to arrive. Police added that the assailant left her mobile phone and a glove at the scene.

The incident is not the first time a member of the Muslim community in Germany has tried to enforce morality on business owners or residents in Berlin. According to a report from July, Muslims of Chechen origin have repeatedly tried to enforce Islamic morality in the city.

One girl who was harassed by so-called “morality police” said: “Even in a hijab, I was called a prostitute, for instance, for wearing eye makeup. And I thought: ‘Who am I trying to please?’”

In 2014, radical Islamist preacher Sven Lau created a similar organisation he dubbed the “Sharia Police”. Lau was later arrested and charged with helping radical Islamic terror groups in the Middle East by raising cash and supplies for them. He was found guilty earlier this year and sentenced to five and a half year in prison.